egg vs chicken - kata vs technique

I teach the solo kata first, but not in huge detail.

Then some Bunkai and apply those principles back into the kata, then it goes on.

It gives the students something to work with when they train on their own.

That is pretty much how I learnt. I was wondering whether through teaching the kata by rote learning we don't stifle the creative side. If the student was first introduced to different implications of techniques then they would be able to identify links between different techniques much easier, rather than saying that A must follow B because the Kata X does it like that. If we could create those links, then using combinations from heian sandan and bassai dai (for example) would come more naturally to students.

Hi Andrew,

I teach the kata and our associated bunkai drills side by side. What I mean is that it is not uncommon for part of the kata and the associated bunkai drill to be taught within the same session. I feel that works best for us as students understand the purpose of the kata; and the solo motion and application become closely linked in the student’s mind.

They also learn the kata piece by piece as they progress and I feel this helps increase the quality of the kata as it’s easier to concentrate on the details of one sequence rather than the entire kata. It also means that once that have learnt the full kata, they also know all the primary bunkai drills that go with it so we avoid that thing of practising something without understanding its purpose.

Not saying this is the only acceptable way to do things, as I know others who teach in a different order (i.e. the full kata first, or all the bunkai first) and the end result seems to work for them. However, this is what works best of us and fits best with our wider training.

All the best,

Iain

If, and I mean if they reach the kata stage, which usually comes after a good year into training and is proceeded by conditioning, basic striking techniques, sparring and learning to love the heavy bag. I teach kata application first followed closely by the form. By application I mean using the technique in two-person drills, usually free-flowing, or in a sparring type of drill conducted at close range.

The problem with this approach (I''ve found) is that many people want to learn numerous kata because they equate quantity with skill, which is not true. If you're really breaking the kata down into its various techniques and spin offs from those techniques, you can literally work on one kata for several years. Therefore I feel it important that the student, or potential student, understand your approach to kata and the role of kata as you see it. If not then misunderstandings can arise such as the student wanting to learn a certain kata for competition: learn several kata just to collect them: or learn a kata for aesthic purposes: etc, etc. There is 100 years of wayward thinking towards kata (which has seriously hurt karate as a fighting art), and we are just now beginning to reverse this trend. So, with this in mind if you do teach kata as a personal mnemonic, instead of a empty set of physical movements, then be prepared for someone to say "Hey, that's not tradtional karate," even though their opinion is only based on post-war methods of training.

Interesting, thanks for the responses. Going on from there, for grading purposes do you require more advanced students to demonstrate more advanced bunkai from the same techniques (ie seeing the implications of their techniques and going on from there to flow into other techniques from the same or different kata)?

grunners4 wrote:

Interesting, thanks for the responses. Going on from there, for grading purposes do you require more advanced students to demonstrate more advanced bunkai from the same techniques (ie seeing the implications of their techniques and going on from there to flow into other techniques from the same or different kata)?

That’s part of how we approach things. To start with the students are given set drills and techniques. As the progress, they are expected to vary and adapt how they apply things inline with their own experience, strengths and weaknesses.

All the best,

Iain